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Manji (Bakumatsu Arc)
The following information contains SPOILERS for both Blade of the Immortal ''and Blade'' of the Immortal: Bakumatsu Arc. Manji Manji (卍 / 万次, Manji) is the main protagonist of ''Blade of the Immortal: Bakumatsu Arc'', sequel to Blade of tthe Immortal. Personality He is much the same as he was in the original series: tired, temperamental, and rude. At some point before the story in 1864 begins, he decides not to fight anymore, though still wears a sword. Plot Tosa, Shikoku After living in America and learning English, Manji returns to Japan for ~14 years and teaches English to a boy named Niijima Shimeta in Tosa, Shikoku. In 1864, while in Tosa, a young man named Ryouma Sakamoto comes looking for him. He wants Manji to accompany him to Kyoto, where political and civil unrest are occurring between the Imperialists and the Shinsengumi. Manji reveals his immortality is still present even though he reached killing 1000 people thirty years prior. He is more than annoyed with Yaobikuni for apparently lying to him about how to atone for his sins. Ryouma suggests that helping people may be the correct path, since murder didn't work. When he hears this, Manji remembers Rin and accepts. He and Ryouma do not exactly share the same philosophy about the future of Japan, but they both want to help protect other people. Kyoto Manji and Ryouma go to Kyoto. Upon seeing his first Shinsengumi members, Manji is cut down by them because he is wearing a sword, but springs back to life and settles the score. Later, at a restaurant, Ryouma tells Manji they will be meeting the leader of the Tosa Imperialists (who are loyal to the Emperor and not the Shogunate) and one of Ryouma's old friends, Takechi Zuizan. Manji and Ryouma meet with Takechi Zuizan, but Takechi does not want to wait to topple the Tokugawa Shogunate like Ryouma does; Ryouma is concerned they will have to kill many people who are still loyal to the Shogunate. Takechi reveals his plans to burn Kyoto to the ground. Manji bows out of the conversation, telling Ryouma there's no right answer and it's none of their business. One of the Imperialists, Izou Okuda, follows them and starts fighting Manji because of his rude behavior toward his boss, Takechi. Ryouma is friends with the both of them and does not want them to fight, but they begin anyway. As they are fighting, more men arrive, but are quickly defeated thanks to Manji, Izou, and Ryouma's gun. They all return to Takechi's to find he has been kidnapped. Painted on the wall in the blood of the fallen is the "manji" symbol, and Manji finds a note addressed to him by a "relative of Ayame Burando", disclosing they have taken Takechi and if they want him back, Manji must meet at a bridge alone later that night. Manji remembers in horror all of the torturous experiments done on him while he was imprisoned underneath Edo Castle eighty years earlier. Manji meets Kitami, a fighter from the Itsuban Squad, on the bridge and defeats him and his pack of dogs. He tells Ryouma that Kitami was a member of the Shinsengumi's "Itsuban Squad", but Ryouma has never heard of it. Ryouma and Izou worry about Takechi's fate in the hands of the enemy, but Manji asks why they can't just break in and take him back. Ryouma laughs at such a crazy idea, but Manji counters that he knew two "dumbass girls" who once broke into Edo Castle. Ryouma asks him if one of them was his girlfriend, but Manji changes the subject and Ryouma is left disappointed. The next day, as Manji and Ryouma are discussing what to do, a woman working at their inn tells Manji there is a girl waiting outside to see him. The girl tells Manji she is Ayame Buran, and reveals that although it was she who told the Itsuban Squad about him, she did it because she is in love with him and wanted to meet him. She further explains her plan to have his child so she can see if the baby is mortal or not. Horrified, Manji leaves, saying he'll never be able to have sex ever again. Ryouma asks Manji to accompany him to Edo to persuade a member of the Shogun's council to provide money and to write a note that will protect Takechi from being killed. Manji tells him he was banned from entering the city long ago and says that although no one is likely around to remember him now, a promise is a promise, more or less. Quotes * "Really? I happen to know a couple dumbass girls who broke into Edo Castle by themselves." * "A relative of Ayame Burando, huh... I really have gotten older." * "Seems like I was tricked from start to finish. l ain't forgetting, you old witch." * "That reminds me, I've lived a hundred years, and even been to America, but I've never once been to Kyou." Trivia * Manji uses the surname "Nakahama" while in Tosa, which is from real English translator Manjirō Nakahama of this time period. As Manji's backstory and timeline in America coincide with Manjirō's, it is assumed that in this story Manji is "the real" Manjirō. This backstory actually first appears as comments Manji makes in the epilogue of the original Blade of the Immortal.